Chapter 15 #2
To be fair, though, Hallie had just been thinking about last night. The wisps of neediness were still floating through her body, making it a little hard to think rationally.
“I’m not sure,” Hallie finally responded, trying to think of a plausible explanation. “Maybe because I’ve been outside so much. And I’m sure that Greg’s shed isn’t exactly up to OSHA compliance standards.”
Brynn nodded, seemingly accepting the answer. Her stare dropped down to Hallie’s lips before she pulled her gaze back up. “He’s back tomorrow, right? So you’ll have more time…”
The words hung between them. Whether there was any innuendo there, Hallie felt their weight.
Part of Hallie was ecstatic that Greg would be back, given that the great outdoors wasn’t her favorite place to be.
Managing to salt the walkways and ensure there were no rogue branches were tasks that she could handle with relative ease, though.
It would have been an actual nightmare if Greg had gotten injured during the summer, with pruning and mowing and pool maintenance and wasp nests to contend with.
But the other part of her knew that they were on another precipice. In a shared apartment, at a shared workplace, there weren’t a lot of places to hide from their feelings. Sooner rather than later, they’d need to decide how they wanted to move forward.
Agreeing not to have sex wasn’t exactly a long-term solution.
Regardless of when they slept together again, Hallie was already growing attached to Brynn.
And all those reasons that had made her feel like this was a bad idea were still very real and very present.
In their situation, it was going to be, more than anything, about Brynn deciding what she wanted her own future to look like.
Hopefully, the stars would align, and Hallie’s already fragile heart wouldn’t get pulverized if Brynn left.
“You know, I think I’m going to change really quickly before we meet Sydney and Reese. I wouldn’t want to show up for our maid-of-honor duties in my work uniform,” Hallie said, gesturing down her body.
Brynn followed her hand with her own stare, which hovered intently for a few seconds on Hallie’s chest.
Hallie had thought about the fact that Brynn had seemed really into her boobs.
One, because she hadn’t expected it the first night that they’d hooked up, and two, because she loved having her chest touched, and it had about melted her into a puddle as Brynn had explored and fondled and toyed with her, even through layers of clothing.
She pushed her legs together, willing the spark in her center to fizzle out quickly. Again.
Hallie looked at Brynn, no doubt with a dumb look scraped across her features. What were they talking about? Oh, right. “Okay. Well, I’m going to get changed.”
Brynn moved about a foot down the side of the desk, closer to where Hallie was going to step out. A necessary path for Hallie to reach the hallway that led to their apartment.
Excitement rushed through her, all because of the simple possibility of being within touching distance of Brynn.
How was she going to make it through tonight with any semblance of normalcy?
God, Sydney was never going to let her hear the end of this.
Hallie couldn’t be sure, but she suspected that Sydney had some level of awareness of what was going on.
Which had led her to the sneaking suspicion that she and Brynn wore whatever was happening between them right on their sleeves for other people to see.
Especially if those other people were Sydney.
Hallie put her hands up, and Brynn stopped coming closer.
“Is something wrong? I know you don’t actually have allergies,” Brynn chided, and heat washed across Hallie’s cheeks.
Hallie should not have been surprised by Brynn’s comment, like, at all. She bit her lip, knowing that she’d been caught. “I’m sorry about the fib. I am just trying not to get too amped up before we go out with Reese and Sydney.”
Brynn lifted an eyebrow and took a small step closer. “Amped up?”
“Come on. You know what I’m saying.” Hallie gestured vaguely, hoping that Brynn would put her out of her misery and fill in the gaps.
“But what if I want to hear you say it?” Brynn said, leaning forward.
She chanced a look around the room, making sure they were alone.
When she confirmed that was the case, she closed the distance between them and placed a soft, chaste kiss on Hallie’s lips.
She pulled back ever so slightly and exhaled.
“I’ve wanted to do that all day. I hope that’s okay. ”
Is this what it felt like to be wooed? Because Hallie was feeling pretty damn wooed right now. Somehow, Brynn was constantly surprising her in the best possible ways.
Hallie let out a shaky exhale, flushed from the simple touch. “It’s perfect.” Then, she quieted, chewing her lip. “We just haven’t exactly gotten into how we want to deal with Reese and Sydney. I don’t want us to be a secret, but I’m also—”
“Afraid of prying eyes? Sensitive to the fact that we’re both their maids of honor?” Brynn supplied.
She was grateful that Brynn had given the words to her and that she didn’t seem even mildly offended by the statement.
Because Brynn having feelings for her was akin to winning the lottery, but it would also be crazy to think that there wouldn’t be…
consequences when people found out that they were dating.
Especially when tonight should be about Sydney and Reese.
And what happened if things between her and Brynn imploded before their wedding? She didn’t want either of the brides to be put in a difficult position, worrying that Hallie wouldn’t be able to work with Brynn to make the day a success.
“You’re not upset?” she asked, hoping that Brynn was really being honest with her. “I just want us to figure this out before we bring any more cooks into the kitchen. Does that make sense?”
Brynn nodded. “We’re friends, too. I don’t see there being any issue with me behaving strictly as your friend tonight.”
Relief coursed through Hallie. This was good. They could do this. Balance their platonic and romantic feelings while they figured out what exactly was going on between them. She nodded, committed to seeing her part through. “I can do the same.”
Brynn extended her hand. “Shake on it?”
Hallie rolled her eyes but pushed her hand forward, ready to shake. But when their fingertips connected, Brynn grabbed her hand and lifted it to her mouth, kissing Hallie’s knuckles. “Starting now,” she said when she let go of Hallie’s hand.
As Hallie made her exit down the hallway, she chanced a look back. From the desk, Brynn gave her a playful smile that made Hallie wonder whether or not they’d actually be able to pull this one off.
They were absolutely not going to be able to pull this one off.
That became abundantly clear as Hallie sat in the back of the SUV, reminding herself every few seconds that she should, under no circumstances, reach across the center seat and grab Brynn’s hand.
Which was enticingly displayed, palm up, just begging for Hallie to shift her own arm a few inches over to take it within her own.
And Sydney, who was driving, kept giving Hallie these weird looks through the mirror. Like she was just waiting for Hallie to do something that proved whatever theory she’d drummed up in that pretty head of hers.
Suddenly, she was wishing that Sydney wasn’t taking her newfound involvement in Hallie’s life so seriously.
Hallie needed to stop that look. Pronto. She leaned forward and shoved her head between the driver and passenger seats. “So, why aren’t your parents planning the engagement party? Isn’t that usually how it goes?”
Sydney looked over at Reese, a look passing between the two of them.
“Your call, babe,” Sydney deferred.
Reese clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Well, we’ve been working very hard to manage people’s expectations.”
The exasperation in Reese’s tone heavily implied that it was not going well, which piqued Hallie’s interest. Honestly, it could be good to throw herself into someone else’s drama for a change. Get out of her own head a little bit. “Tell me more…”
“Apparently, there are a lot of rules about how a wedding should be done,” Sydney interjected. “And between my parents and Reese’s mom—”
“And my father,” Reese said, clearly annoyed before adding, “I’d take meddling but lovable parents over him any day.”
This was news to Hallie. “I thought that he was persona non grata in the Devereux-King household. Wow, that’s really a mouthful,” she said with a laugh.
Neither Sydney nor Reese seemed to appreciate the humor. Which left Hallie to ease awkwardly back against her seat, shooting Brynn a questioning look. She only responded with an adorable, confused shrug. Clearly, she was just as confused.
“Tripp Devereux has, unfortunately, found out about the engagement,” Sydney said, clearly frustrated on her fiancée’s behalf.
What a complicated web of relationships Sydney was sitting smack dab in the middle of. One that she, Hallie Thatcher, was now intimately entangled in.
Really, they needed a diagram or something.
From the back seat, Hallie could see Reese rubbing at her brow.
“I’m not sure what about me corporate-raiding his entire portfolio of properties screams that I’d love for us to catch up at some point, but he’s been relentless.
For whatever reason, he thinks that I still have interest in having a relationship with him. ”